REER

The price of one currency in terms of another is called exchange rate.

Exchange rates play a central role in international trade because they allow the computation of the relative prices of goods and services produced in different countries thereby allowing the comparison of those prices across countries.

Changes in exchange rates are described either as depreciations or appreciations. Real exchange rates are nominal exchange rates corrected somehow by the effect of price movements (increase or decrease) in the economy.

Real exchange rates are defined in terms of nominal exchange rates and price levels.

The real exchange rate provides information on the degree of competitiveness of one country when compared to another.

For example, the real exchange of the US dollar against the Indonesian rupiah provides information on the competitiveness of the Timorese economy compared to Indonesia. In this case, a decline in the real dollar/rupiah exchange rate (which is called a real appreciation of the dollar against the rupiah) would mean a decline in the purchasing power of the rupiah in Timor Leste and therefore a loss in competitiveness for Timor Leste vis-à-vis Indonesia.

Conversely, an increase in real dollar/rupiah exchange rate (called real depreciation of the dollar against the rupiah) would mean an increase in the purchasing power of the rupiah in Timor Leste and therefore a gain in competitiveness for Timor Leste vis-à-vis Indonesia.

The indicator to measure exchange rate changes is the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) and Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER).

NEER

The NEER is a weighted average of major bilateral nominal exchange rates, with weights based on the trade shares reflecting the relative importance of each currency in the effective exchange rate basket.

REER

The REER is obtained by adjusting the NEER for inflation differentials with the countries whose currencies are included in the basket.

As the inflation rate in each country is assumed to broadly indicate the trends in domestic cost of production, the REER is expected to reflect foreign competitiveness of domestic products.

The main focus of the REER is on the trade balance, particularly on the exchange rate induced changes in trade flows.

A trend appreciation of the real effective exchange rate is considered unfavorable for the growth of exports and as it favors imports from competing countries.

The graph of RER TL vis a vis Indonesia and Australia reveal the current situation with trading partners Calculation, Sources and Methodology The NEER and REER based on trade composition with 8 trading partner countries are computed on a regular basis by the Central Bank (BCTL).

NEER

The NEER for each time period t is defined as the weighted sum of the bilateral nominal exchange rates, with weights defined as share of external trade of each trade partner on total.

Exchange rates of country/currency i against the US dollar

Weights attached to the country/ currency i in the index

REER

The REER is the weighted sum of bilateral real exchange rates, with weights given by the share of each trading partner total:

j = Timor-Leste , i=partner

Selection of countries in the basket is based on bilateral trade shares and the importance in terms of competitiveness of those countries import to Timor-Leste in the international market.

Currencies selected for the trading partner area Trading composition (2001=100) percent
Indonesia	Rupiah
Australia	Australian Dollar
Singapore	Singapore Dollar
Portugal	Euro
Malaysia	Malaysian Ringgit
Thailand	Bath
Japan	Yen
Vietnam	Vietnamese Dong

The weighted value is calculated on basis of geometric average of Timor-Leste bilateral trade with each of the countries.

Trading composition (2001=100) percent
Indonesia	45%
Australia	9%
Singapore	18%
Portugal	5%
Malaysia	9%
Thailand	3%
Japan	4%
Vietnam	7%

The data source is from the National Statistics Department. If the current years weighted value necessary for computation is unavailable, hence, preliminary estimates are calculated using the weighted values of the previous year. After the current year trade data becomes available, the preliminary rates are revised.

REER

REER

Export Excel